BAY CITY — Stephen P. Ashley Jr. grew up with every opportunity a child or teen could ask for — frequent family vacations, a thriving high school sports career and popularity among his peers, according to his father.

But some setbacks in life and poor decisions led him down a path of drug use, his father says, culminating in a murder charge before his son reached his 21st birthday.

“He had a very good knowledge of what he should and shouldn’t do,” Ashley Sr. said. “He wasn’t a bad kid. There’s no history whatsoever of violent behavior in his life. He was given every opportunity and he chose not to do those things.”

As a child, Ashley Jr. — who turned 21 on Jan. 21— was no stranger to zoos and amusement parks and, at one point, took a trip to Washington, D.C., where he met and had his picture taken with President Bill Clinton and wife Hillary, Newt Gingrich and Janet Reno.

He also enjoyed indoor and outdoor activities.

“He was very much into his computers and video games,” his father said. “He did enjoy going up north with me. He liked water sports. I used to have a boat and he used to love tubing and waterboarding and wake boarding and all that kind of stuff. He worked out a lot, too.”

View full sizeStephen Ashley Jr. as a football player for John Glenn High School

Around age 8 or 9, Ashley Jr. started taking Tae Kwon Do classes. By 13, he was a martial arts instructor at Delta College, his father said.

“I taught him to handle himself with his hands, not a firearm, and that’s why when I heard there was a firearm involved, I could not believe that,” Ashley Sr. said. “Then I found out he purchased it on the night-of, which at least lets me know he was definitely scared for his life.”

Kaleb S. Rosin, also charged with Houston’s slaying, testified at Ashley Jr.’s preliminary examination that he saw him purchase a .22-caliber pistol shortly before meeting with Houston last November. The meeting was the last time Houston, a father of five, was seen alive.

Throughout his high school days, Ashley Jr. single-mindedly pursued a career as a professional athlete, his father said.

Ashley Jr., a 2009 graduate of John Glenn High School, played as a middle linebacker for the school from his sophomore through senior year, said his father. Coaches at John Glenn could not be reached for comment.

Ashley Jr.’s parents divorced when he was 15 and, for the first few years after, father and son rarely saw each other.

About a year ago, the two started reconnecting — grabbing lunch now and then and meeting for walks in an area park. The two last saw each other about a week before Ashley Jr.’s Nov. 16 arrest.

His parents’ divorce and the derailment of his athletic career caused a marked change in Ashley Jr.’s behavior, his father said.

“Stephen blew his ACL out not once but twice in high school. When he did that, between that and the divorce, he started falling off in school, started running around with the wrong crowd and we are where we are today,” Stephen Ashley Sr. said.

Working at an area daycare and living with relatives while his friends left town on scholarships further demoralized Ashley Jr., his father said.

“His optimism was sucked right out of his life,” he said. “He has some depression issues I believe because it’s not going to happen the way he wanted it to happen with sports.”

Ashley Sr. says it’s no excuse for the charges facing his son today. He adds that he frequently encouraged him to revamp his goals and pursue them rather than wallow in self-pity. For a time, Ashley Jr. heeded his father’s advice, attending classes at Delta College and Saginaw Valley State University in pursuit of a degree in sports medicine.

“He was trying to turn his weakness into a strength,” Ashley Sr. said. “He was going to school and working every day. I told him that was the most important thing, and as long as he kept doing that, things would eventually open up and pan out for him.”